This invention relates to a packing unit seal, said packing unit: [a] comprising a hollow parallelepipedic shaped body having a bottom wall suitable for forming the base of said packing unit, a first side wall, two second side walls adjacent said first side wall and a fourth side wall opposite said first side wall, all being attached to said bottom wall and to the adjacent side walls; [b] comprising a cover member attached to said fourth side wall and capable of pivoting between an open position and a closed position, in which there is formed a slit between said cover member and said side walls other than said fourth side wall; [c] being suitable for comprising a set number of identical articles; and [d] having an identifying label, located on one of said side walls other than said fourth side wall and suitable for referring to said number and to said articles.
Said warranty arrangement is particularly applicable to packing units in the form of a box having a lid, generally made from cardboard, for containing a set number of articles of like characteristics, wherein the number and the characteristics are specified on an identifying label together with the brand name and the name of the article. This label is located on one or more of the box surfaces.
In practice, in the warehouses of the manufacturer, of the marketing enterprise, of the distributors, of the retailers and of the users, the said articles, boxed in a set number, are located on shelves and are grouped together so that at least one of their identifying labels remains visible, whereby it is an extremely simple task to locate the article.
Nevertheless, when the time comes to update the stock or take the inventory, the content of each and every one of the stored boxes has to be counted, since there is no certainty that the number of articles contained therein is the same as that appearing on the label, since it is not sufficient simply to inspect the boxes on the shelves to ascertain whether any of them have been opened and one or more of the articles contained therein have been removed.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have an arrangement of the elements of the boxes which allowed the contents thereof to be observed at a glance, without it being necessary to examine the interior thereof.
It is an object of this invention to overcome the abovementioned drawback. This object is achieved with a seal of the type first mentioned above, said packing unit seal comprising an adhesive sealing tape which, in the said closed position, has a first portion adhered to said cover member, a second portion partly concealing said slit and a third portion adhered to said side wall on which said label is located, said third portion being in the proximity of said label.
This seal is obviously located on a visible part of the packing unit in the stored position thereof, and it is preferably broken the first time the packing unit is opened without the need of tools.
The invention also contemplates that the sealing tape be made of non-transparent material, may be torn directly by hand without the need for tools and that it be formed by one or more tongues, appendices or extensions of the label itself.